The MCU fanboy fascination with the runtimes of streaming episodes and films is worthy of psychological study. Prior to viewing each new project, social media experts manage to judge the quality of said project simply by how long it is. Strangely enough, there’s no rhyme or reason to it nor has there really ever been any acceptable standard for the length of an episode or film. Everything is just too short.
In reality, if The Silence of the Lambs can tell its terrifying tale in under two hours and Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction can wrap up in less than three, it’s probably ok if most Marvel Studios films don’t keep audiences in the theater for 3+ hours. What should matter is the story and the creatives for each project should be able make sure that comes first and adjust the runtimes accordingly.
In the case of Joe and Anthony Russo‘s time with Marvel Studios, story has seemed to take precedence over runtime. Their four MCU films have ranged from 2 hours and 16 minutes long to just over 3 hours long and averaged 2 hours and 33 minutes of screentime. Now in preparation for their return to Marvel to wrap up the Multiverse Saga in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars the brothers Russo already seem to have an idea of how much time it will take to tell their next two stories.
“If I were a betting man, I would say the first one is two and a half, and the second one’s three hours,” the Russos told Collider while promoting their new Netflix film, Electric State.
If that seems familiar, it’s likely because that’s pretty much how it went with Avengers: Infinity War (2:29) and Avengers: Endgame (3:01) in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Five and a half hours provided plenty of narrative runway then and will likely do so now, even if fans are already expressing concern that the combined runtime won’t be enough to wrap up the Multiverse Saga.
The average runtime of an MCU flick is 2 hours and 12 minutes and has been for quite some time. Interestingly, even though the Multiverse Saga included the shortest film in the MCU to date (The Marvels fast-paced story wrapped up in just 1:45), overall the post-Endgame films have been a touch longer than those in the Infinity Saga, averaging a 2 hour and 15 minute runtime.
Source: Collider
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